


One-Two Punch

by BariTengineer



Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: Fist Fights, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 08:55:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29623803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BariTengineer/pseuds/BariTengineer
Summary: If Stark and Carter can't figure out how to work together they're going to lose their jobs and they end up doing it in the most toxic macho way, a fist fight.
Relationships: Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Kudos: 30





	One-Two Punch

**Author's Note:**

> Waiting on a proofread from a friend but the main work isn't changing so putting it up early for anyone who doesn't mind that.

Dr. Nathan Stark was in a worse mood than usual. He generally disliked Sheriff Jack Carter but it wasn’t that big a deal most days. Now that dislike had blossomed into full blown rage knowing that Sheriff 111 could lose him his job. Stark was on his way to Allison’s office where they were going to meet to figure out how to handle this when he heard Carter’s whinging down the hallway. “Can’t they just fire him and leave me alone? He’s the one who causes all these problems!” Jack complained.

Stark opened the door to the office and shot Carter a heated glare. “Ah yes, because it’s my fault when scientists ignore safety protocols and that science has risks” Stark snarked before turning his glare to Dr. Allison Blake who he wasn’t particularly happy with either. They were currently co-heads of Global Dynamics and if he got fired she’d have sole leadership again. It didn’t help that she had also turned him down again and told him to stop pursuing her. She had made it extremely clear that she had no intention of getting back together with him again and that still stung, especially since he was pretty sure it was because of Carter.

Stark sat down in one of the chairs across from Allison’s desk while Carter continued to pace the room. “Of course it’s your fault, you’re the one who pushes them to work harder and faster and then they screw up and we have to deal with the consequences!” Jack snapped back at him, clearly in just as much of a mood as he was.

Allison cleared her throat and both men looked at her expectantly. “Neither of you has been fired yet and we still have a chance to prevent it.” She fixed her eyes on Carter “The town needs you” and then on Stark “and GD needs you, no one is getting fired if we can help it. Now if you don’t mind Carter please sit down so we can discuss how we’ll get the DOD to back off”.

The sheriff glanced at the chair next to Stark and gave a beleaguered sigh before plopping himself down and crossing his arms. “Well, ideas?” He spat out.

Normally Carter would never be so acerbic with Allison but he couldn’t lose his job, he couldn’t leave Eureka, Zoe was doing so well since they had come here and he liked the people here, even if they did force him to spend almost all of his time putting out fires, sometimes literally. Allison took a deep breath of her own and looked at the two men intently. “There have been too many close calls recently with you two at the center. The DOD thinks if you two can’t figure out how to get along together one of these days one of you will break and then the catastrophe actually will blow up the town. So either you work out your differences or Eureka figures out how to work itself out without you.”

The directness with which Dr. Blake laid out their situation was like a bucket of ice poured over Nathan and Jack felt like he had swallowed a pound of lead. Allison continued “With Dr. Barlowe gone we have no psychotherapist for you two to work out your problems so you’ll have to do it yourselves, the old fashioned way.”

“What? So just talk? Like that’s going to help. Stark’s an egocentric asshole and all talking to him for an extended period is going to do is give me ulcers, or a hernia, or make my head explode or something.”

“You know I am right here and can hear you, Carter” Nathan snapped “though I wouldn’t object to that last option.”

If looks could kill then the glare that Jack shot the scientist would have vaporized him.

“Jo has always coveted the sheriff’s badge, we could just get rid of Carter and then it won’t be an issue.” Nathan posited.

“Enough! Both of you! Either you both figure out how to deal with this or you’re both out of a job. Those are the orders from the DOD and frankly at this moment I’m tempted to side with them and just say you’re unfixable” an exasperated Allison threatened them.

Both men opened their mouth to argue but the glare she gave them for once got them both to keep quiet. “Now, Dr. Stark, do you still have that cabin at the base of Mt. Hood?”

“What does that have to--” Nathan tried to ask before Allison interrupted him.

“Do you have it?”

“Yes.” He responded icily, already not liking where this was going.

“Good, you’re both taking a week off to spend some quality bonding time together.” Allison stood up from behind her desk and dropped the two duffel bags she had hidden behind her desk in front of the men. “You’re already packed and ready to go. Now go, I don’t want to see either of you until next Saturday and if you aren’t at least able to handle being friendly then I’ll send the DOD a note saying I agree with them and to remove you both.”

Alison fixed her gaze first on Carter, then on Stark “Am I clear?” Allison spat.

Carter and Stark each looked the other over and then Jack sighed in resignation. “Fine, but I’m driving us up, I don’t trust you to not intentionally crash us to save us from this experience.”

The men stood up, grabbed the bags and walked out of the office brusquely leaving Allison alone. She took a deep breath and then laid her head on her desk while thinking to herself that she’d hope they could figure something out.

\------------------------------------

It was a three hour drive to Stark’s cabin but it took no time at all for him and Carter to be at each other’s throats. Stark spent as much time as he could pointing out all the ways Carter had screwed up and Jack did the same right back. The town was still standing but only due to his efforts each of them claimed. When they ran out of incidents to blame each other for they moved onto digs of the other’s personality. Dr. Nathan Nobel Laureate Stark lorded his intelligence over Carter and Carter dug right back with how pretty much in town was either terrified of or hated Stark. They knew how to push each other’s buttons and Jack was beginning to think that he might be the one who intentionally crashed the car just to end his own suffering. By the time they were nearing the cabin they had only one topic left to hurt each other with, Allison.

“If you had never come back I’d have already married Allison and we’d probably have a kid on the way, why the hell did you even have to come back to Eureka anyway?” Jack had fantasized about raising a family with Allison over the last few years, she loved Kevin deeply and he knew that she would do everything to help Zoe become the doctor she wanted to be.

“She was my wife!” Stark yelled back at him. “We were still married and I was trying to fix that, like any good husband!”

They arrived at the cabin. Jack got out of the truck, grabbed his bag, and slammed the door shut. “How on Earth could you fool yourself into thinking a raging egomaniac like you could ever be a good husband? Was Allison ever really happy with you?”

The next thing Jack knew his jaw was a nova of pain and his head banged against the jeep sending him sprawling to the ground. Stark was standing over him with a rage in his eyes that worried Carter that the scientist may actually intend to kill him. Unfortunately that blow to the head slowed his reaction time and before he could right himself he was pinned against the truck by Nathan’s larger frame with an arm right up to his throat. “I dare you, say that one more time Carter and…” Stark left the threat hanging in the air.

Carter opened and closed his mouth a few times as he tried to get his brain and mouth to sync back up. “Sorry, that was too far” Jack breathed out.

Stark tensed for a second before finally relaxing and letting Carter go. Nathan was so worked up at that comment he didn’t trust himself to say anything and instead just grabbed his own bag and walked into the cabin. Jack took a second to collect himself and then followed inside. The cabin wasn’t huge but it certainly wasn’t cramped either. A sizable living room and kitchen along with one bedroom he could see and a set of stairs which Nathan was already mounting. Nathan pointed at the first floor bedroom and glared at Carter “Guest room, don’t ruin it in the short time we’re here”.

Nathan retreated up the stairs presumably to another bedroom to store his own things, so Carter proceeded to do the same, he put away the shirts and pants and other clothes. At the bottom of the duffel bag he found a note from Zoe it just said “I know you can do it Dad”. Jack sat down on the bed and paused. Zoe helped coordinate this, she wanted to stay in Eureka and he wanted her to be happy. He had to try to fix whatever he and Stark had, for her sake.

Meanwhile Stark was upstairs putting his clothing away and still fuming. Punching Carter was nowhere near as satisfying as it should have been. He felt a tiny bit of guilt about how he had knocked the sheriff into his own jeep but he buried it. He was still too angry over the insinuation that Nathan was incapable of making Allison happy. The Allison who had divorced him, and then when he tried to win her back that in no uncertain terms she was done with him. He practically fell into the armchair on the balcony attached to the master suite and put his head into his hands. She had been happy. _They_ had been happy. At least for a while. But he wasn’t sure he would be able to make her happy like that again. But even if he wanted her happy it couldn’t be with Carter. Aside from Carter being the wrong man for her in all sorts of ways, after all the jockeying between him and Carter if he couldn’t have Allison then Carter couldn’t either, she’d find someone else to be happy with but if he was going to suffer then Carter was going to suffer with him. He was still furious over Carter’s comment and he wasn’t satisfied with the punch he did get in and decided on his next course of action.

Jack was still sitting on the guest bed thinking to himself when Stark opened the door. He had changed clothes into a pair of shorts and a wife-beater. And he we was wearing tennis shoes. Jack had never seen Stark in anything more casual than a pair of loafers. “Come with me, now”. Stark ordered and Jack wasn’t sure if it was guilt over his earlier comment or the head injury but he complied in silence.

They walked out the front door into the yard and Stark stopped and turned to face Carter. “Hit me.”

Jack gave him a confused look. “What? No, I’m not going to hit you, I deserved that punch.” Jack said as he rubbed the back of his neck “though the bang to my head maybe not” he mumbled.

“Carter, I’m going to continue to punch you until I feel better, but this time it won’t be a sucker punch, You get the first swing, or am I going to just get to wail on you?” Stark replied coldly.

Carter had no idea what to do so he held his hands up in front of himself. “Woah woah, no, no more punching. I don’t want to hit you Stark, we’re just supposed to talk remember?”

“Too bad, Carter, I gave you your chance.” And with that Carter saw Stark wind up for a doozie of a punch.

At 6’4” and mostly muscle the punch would certainly hurt if it landed so Carter did his best to dodge and deflect when it came in straight for his face. Luckily he was able to save himself most of the pain into his shoulder instead but that was still plenty painful. “Hey! Stop it! What’s wrong with you?” Jack yelled at Stark before another punch came in, this time right into his solar plexus, knocking all the wind out of him.

Nathan growled out at him “I’m not stopping until either I’m unconscious, too exhausted to keep going, or satisfied.” As a 15 year old college student he had found it prudent to learn a bit about self defense and while this certainly wouldn’t qualify the skills were still handy.

Jack straightened a bit still holding his stomach as he took quick breaths to steady himself. Nathan got into a proper fighting stance and eyed Carter while giving him a moment to prepare. “You’re not going to be satisfied until I fight back are you?” Carter asked.

“Probably not, so are you finally going to get over yourself and hit me?”

Nathan didn’t receive the answer he was expecting as his feet were swept out from under him landing him on his back. All the air was knocked from Nathan’s lungs and he tried desperately to take a deep breath. He struggled up to his feet and looked back over at Carter who had adopted a fighting stance of his own, but much more compact and low to the ground. “Are you sure you want to do this Nathan? You do remember I was a US Marshal and have had to have more than a regular person’s share of fist fights?”

Nathan actually hadn’t remembered that but he wasn’t about to back out now. He knew that if Carter incapacitated him in any way the sheriff would back off. He was just that kind of man and he didn’t really want to be in this fight anyway. That thought gave Nathan a slight pang of regret, he was forcing Carter into a fight he really didn’t want, but Nathan was pretty sure it was one they both needed, or at least one that he needed.

Just as he hadn’t seen the leg that swept under him the punch that came next was so fast he didn’t have time to register it and while being punched in the chest wasn’t the worst thing that it could have been it made breathing even harder and he hadn’t fully recovered his breath from his fall. Lucky for Stark while Carter was quick to hit him he lingered too long coming back and Stark was able to grab his arm and twist which made Carter buckle in order to keep his shoulder in the socket. Jack punched with his other arm forcing Nathan to let go in order to not have it ruin his beautiful face.

Carter rose back up and started peppering Stark with blows, learning from his last mistake and keeping a quick in and out. Nathan really had underestimated Carter, but he was too stubborn to stop. He got two more good punches in at Jack, one in the face breaking his lip and another in his gut causing the sheriff to back off momentarily. Nathan thought he might have the upper hand for the moment when Carter surprised him with a knee to the stomach and he couldn’t breathe at all. He collapsed onto the ground and Carter trapped him, hips over hips and hands pinning Stark’s to the ground. “Game over, you lose.” Jack bit out before spitting the blood out of his mouth to their side.

For a moment Nathan pushed against Carter trying to get up but with Jack’s weight still on him he couldn’t get a good breath in and the position they were in didn’t give him any leverage anyway. He let his head fall back into the dirt and conceded. “Fine, game over.” The tension just vanished from his body and he retreated to beating himself up in his own head. Picking a fight with a cop and then losing. Nathan hated losing, but at least the only person to see it was Carter, someone who he hated losing to a thousand times more than anyone else but who was at least a good enough person to do it with grace.

Jack stared down at Stark as he saw the man deflate and a resigned expression fall on his face. He was pretty sure if he got up the scientist would leave well enough alone, before either of them had any serious damage. He waited a few seconds more and since Stark made no attempt to try and free himself Jack was satisfied and got off of him.

Nathan took a deep breath and when he reopened his eyes he found Carter’s hand reaching out to help him up. Stark reminded himself that he lost a fight that he had started and to not make it worse by being petty about it too, so he took the sheriff’s proffered hand and got back to his feet. He didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything and walked right past Carter back into the cabin for a shower. Jack looked after him hoping they could have at least attempted to discuss whatever that was but he just sighed and walked back inside for a shower of his own not excited to see the amount of bruising they’d both have in a few hours.

\------------------------------------------

It had already been late when they arrived at the cabin and by the time they had both showered and cooled off enough to be in a room together it was past midnight and Jack realized they hadn’t brought any food. When he brought this up to Nathan the scientist opened the fridge to find it fully stocked with prepared meals. “Allison must have done this. She’s the only other person in Eureka who knew about this place.”

Carter nodded at him “Yeah, she got Zoe to pack my clothes so she’s had this planned for at least a few days. Is there beer in there?”

Stark wordlessly tossed him one and pulled out two of the prepared meals along with a beer for himself. After sticking the food in the microwave both men sat at the dining table and nursed their beers. “So, are you ready to talk about, well, whatever?” Jack asked.

“Eloquent as always sheriff, no I don’t really want to talk to you about anything, right now or ever, but I don’t seem to have much choice either, so fine, let’s talk.” Stark replied with a roll of his eyes.

What was there to say? It seems like their animosity had boiled over into full on hate and he wasn’t even sure they could get to a normal working relationship, not in the week they had, maybe not ever.

Jack gave him a hard stare. “Ok, well do you at least feel better now that you’ve got that out of your system?”

Nathan nodded and took another sip of his beer, it was decent but he would much rather be nursing a whiskey or something similar. “I made Allison happy, we were happy when we were married, at least at first” Nathan paused for another sip before continuing, “but we weren’t happy at the end, it’s why I went to DC in the first place and when I came back she saw that I wouldn’t make her happy again. She’s already told me as much. But you poking at me just set me over the edge.” While he didn’t say it he was sorry. Carter heard it in the way Stark said it, so he didn’t push.

“So if Allison has already told you nothing is going to happen between you two why are you such an ass about me trying to make her happy?” Jack asked, he had been interested in Allison since he had first met her, even if she was married, and now that she wasn’t he felt he should at least be able to pursue her without this level of ire form her ex-husband.

“Because you won’t make her happy.” Stark said simply. “You’re just like me, and you’ll have all the same problems and it’ll probably turn out the exact same way. Do you want that to happen to her? Another failed marriage with a man who is too tied to his work?”

Jack had already been feeling pretty bad from their brawl earlier but this was a far worse pain. As soon as the words left Stark’s mouth Carter knew he was right. The ring of truth was there and when it came down to it, he had to do his job, and sometimes it did come before his family. And Nathan was right, she might be happy with him for a while, but sooner or later she’d either want him to leave his work or she’d leave him. And he couldn’t handle that, he couldn’t put Zoe through another divorce, or Kevin for that matter. He set his beer aside and just started pounding his head into the table.

Nathan let this go on for about a minute before he poked Carter on the head “You’ll damage my table like that. Stop it.”

Jack looked up into Nathan’s eyes. He had never really shared a long look with the scientist and he sort of understood why now, the man was intense and his eyes were captivating. The slight gold and grey that flecked the green gave them a depth that he hadn’t seen in an eyes since Abby. And at that thought his heart wrenched. How did he screw up so many of his relationships so badly? “You still really love her don’t you?” Jack asked as he kept Nathan’s gaze.

“Painfully.” Nathan sighed. “I want her to be happy. And she won’t get it with either of us, or with us hating each other.” Nathan ran his fingers through his hair before finishing off the last of his beer. “But if we stay in Eureka she has to deal with us, and deal with us dealing with each other. Truce. If you promise to stop trying to date her and inevitably hurt her I can at the very least treat you with professional courtesy.”

Jack finished off his own beer and nodded back at Stark. “Fine, you’re right, I’m not the right person for her so I’ll back off.”

Satisfied with that response Nathan got up from the table, grabbed their food from the microwave and two more beers. They ate in silence and when they were done Jack looked Nathan up and down once. “Do you have a first aid kit here? We both look terrible and should probably do what we can to fix it. If we come back looking like this they’ll likely fire us no matter what we say.”

“Guest bathroom, under the sink, it’s got the latest from GD as of last year, so we should be fine.”

Jack retrieved it and then pointed at the couch. “Come on, let me get you checked out.” Nathan smirked at the phrasing and did as ordered. “I mean your injuries you jerk.” Jack grumbled at him.

Nathan took off his shirt and for the first time really surveyed the injuries that Carter had given him. His entire chest is covered in bruises and he’s got several cuts and scrapes from when he fell down. Nothing too serious but without the ointment from the first aid kit he’d probably look terrible for weeks as he healed. Carter was giving him a look that said ‘well you did start this’. Stark reached for the first aid kit to get to work when Carter slid it out of reach. “I did this to you, let me.”

Stark was a bit surprised at the offer of aid, but he was sore enough he didn’t want to argue, he leaned back on the couch and watched as the sheriff pulled out an ointment for the bruises, several bandages and rubbing alcohol.

“The cuts don’t look too bad but you didn’t do a very good job cleaning them out in the shower, those first, then the bruises.” Jack said as he used a piece of cloth with the alcohol to clean and disinfect the wound.

At first contact Nathan tried to pull away when Carter held him still. “Can’t clean it like that, stop being a baby, this is your fault you know.” Nathan fumed a bit at the reminder, he did know that but it didn’t make the alcohol hurt less, or the bruises that Carter hit when he stopped the scientist from pulling away.

A few minutes later and 3 more cuts cleaned and bandaged it was time for bruises. Jack put the ointment on the mass of bruises on Stark’s chest and massaged it in. It was strangely erotic even if it was a bit painful. As Nathan watched his bruises faded from a deep purple to a yellowish green. It really was good stuff, even if he still felt sore. “Almost done, now just your face.” Jack chimed in.

Jack had first aid training and was trying to stay as clinical as he could but massaging the ointment into Stark’s well defined chest reminded him of feelings he hadn’t had since before he had married Abby. He brought his hands up to Stark’s face where his left eye and jaw were covered in a massive bruise. Jack held Stark’s head in his hands as he applied the ointment and watched as the bruise went through the accelerated healing process. It was fascinating, but he realized after it finished he was still holding Stark’s face in his other hand and staring deep into his eyes.

Jack’s mouth went completely dry when he realized that Nathan’s breathing was shallow and he had made no move to get away from Jack. Carter licked his lips and asked in barely a whisper. “You said I was just like you. How much alike are we Nathan?”

For a moment Nathan was confused at the question, before he realized what Carter was really asking. Stark licked his lips and stared at the sheriff’s mouth. “More than either of us realized I guess.”

With that he pulled the sheriff on top of him and into a kiss. It was nothing too intense, just enough for them both to taste the other and realize they didn’t hate it. They let go of each other and Jack flopped onto the sofa next to Nathan. They stared at each other for a long moment before Jack let out an exasperated groan. “What the hell are we doing? We hated each other 12 hours ago, 4 hours ago we were beating the pulp out of each other.”

Nathan shrugged at him. “I’m not sure either, I didn’t even know I wanted you until just now. I’m figuring this out as we go along.”

Jack grunted in a non-committal reply. “Do you think you want this or are we just going to find out we hate each other just as much but now we’re also embarrassed for what happens here this week?”

Nathan lets that stew in his mind for a bit before he responds, watching Jack think through the problem himself. “I do want it. Or at least I want to try it. Allison was a big part of the reason we hated each other but now that we know we’re not right for her, maybe the answer is because we’re better for each other.”

“We are pretty good at saving the day when we aren’t trying to kill each other.”

“That we are sheriff. So, what would you like to do next?”

Jack paused for a moment as he let his eyes go up and down Nathan’s body before answering. “Let’s take care of my bruises and then I want to get my hands on you without being in a fight.”  
  
Nathan put some ointment on his hands and gives Jack the dirtiest grin he can muster, “I think that sounds like a splendid idea, Jack.”


End file.
